It's somewhat odd, but the so-called “old gym” used for the Cedar Rapids Washington volleyball tournament Saturday is air conditioned while the “new gym ” is not due to an ongoing geo-thermal project at the school.

Switching back and forth over a sweltering eight-hour day didn't seem to faze small-school Solon, which lost just one game in five matches and claimed the championship in a star-studded 11-team field.

No real surprise there, since the Spartans are ranked second in the Class 4A IGHSAU poll and have won this meet against bigger schools twice in the last three years.

What was mildly surprising is that Solon faced Xavier in the title game.

While ranked ninth in Class 4A and coming off an impressive sweep of Linn-Mar earlier in the week, the Saints reached the finals by pulling off the day's biggest upset with a 23-21, 21-17 win over Class 5A powerhouse Johnston. Ranked No.2 among the large schools, the Dragons were 6-0 for the year before being upended by Xavier.

“We knew they were big, athletic and pretty physical,” said Xavier Coach Krista Johnson of the Des Moines suburb squad.  “But we didn't back down. We were steady and consistent. And we played with great confidence.”

The same could be said Saturday of upstart Cedar Rapids Jefferson under new coach Mary Kay Van Oort.

With a dual-meet victory under their hair ribbons last Tuesday over Dubuque Senior, the J-Hawks won their first three matches in the 22nd annual Warrior Invitational before putting up a good fight in a loss to Solon. They then lost to Johnston in the third-place match.

But with a 4-2 mark early in the season, they've already matched the number of wins in last year's 4-32 campaign.

“This was a big deal for the girls to do so well today,” Van Oort said. “It should give them a lot of confidence. I'm very happy with how we played.”

In their face-off with the much taller Dragons, Jefferson came up short-handed when leading scorer Amanda Ollinger (a 6-foot-1 sophomore) was accidentally smacked in the head during warm-ups and had to sit out.

“She's our go-to hitter,” Van Oort pointed out. “We're a small team anyway and playing the No.2 team without a key player makes a difference. But I'm very  proud of our girls.”

The Saints' Johnson, also a first-year coach for a team that made it to the state tournament last year, was equally pleased with the effort of her players. They easily romped over their first three foes Saturday and then surprised Johnston.

After leading much of the way in the early going of the opening set against Johnston, Xavier fell behind 19-18. In the clutch as usual, however, setter Britni Scholtes lobbed a ball high over the net that Kayla Torson killed for the tying point.

Torson had one more spike and a dink shot to pull out the come-from-behind victory.

“We were a little shell-shocked,” admitted Johnston Coach Rick Brooks. “But they're very aggressive, and they keep coming at you.”

In the second game, the Saints led all the way and were at match point at 20-13 before the Dragons made a last-ditch four-point run. But Torson ended it with a slam, her team-leading 10th of the contest. Scholtes had 16 assists for the two games.

Linn-Mar, with yet another new Metro coach in Teresa Kehe, rebounded from two earlier losses Saturday to topple Xavier in the final match of pool play.

The Saints then fell to Solon, 25-14, 25-19, in the championship match.

With a front line of three big hitters, the Solon Spartans simply over-powered the Saints. And they were able to block or return rockets by Torson that lesser teams couldn't handle.

“They have a lot of weapons,” Johnson said of the Spartans. “They're a very good blocking team, and they were still playing with a lot of energy at the end of the day.

“I was pleased that we kept playing with composure. But we were exhausted. I think we just ran out of heat.”

WARRIOR INVITATIONAL

POOL A STANDINGS

1. Solon 4-0, 2. Jefferson 3-1, 3. Marion 2-2, 4. Washington 1-3, 5. Dubuque Senior 0-4.

POOL B STANDINGS

1. Xavier 4-1, 2. Johnston 4-1,3. Dyersville Beckman 3-2, 4. Linn-Mar 3-2, 5. Davenport Central 1-4, 6. Oskaloosa 0-5.

PLAYOFFS

1st - Solon def. Xavier, 25-14, 25-19
3rd - Johnston def. Jefferson, 25-16, 25-15
5th - Marion def. Dyersville Beckman, 25-18, 25-19
7th - Linn-Mar def. Washington, 25-18, 25-16
9th - Davenport Central def. Dubuque Senior, 21-18, 23-21

POOL A RESULTS

Marion def. Washington, 21-17, 21-17
Jefferson def. Dubuque Senior, 21-13, 21-9
Jefferson def. Washington, 15-21, 23-21, 15-6
Solon def. Dubuque Senior, 21-11, 21-11
Solon def. Washington, 21-16, 21-19
Jefferson def. Marion, 18-21, 21-16, 15-9
Washington def. Dubuque Senior, 21-13, 21-7
Solon def. Marion, 21-16, 19-21, 15-11
Marion def. Dubuque Senior, 21-13, 21-18
Solon def. Jefferson, 21-15, 21-12

POOL B RESULTS

Xavier def. Dyersville Beckman, 21-12, 21-12
Linn-Mar def. Davenport Central, 19-21, 21-17, 15-11
Johnston def. Oskaloosa, 21-14, 21-3
Johnston def. Linn-Mar, 21-13, 21-19
Xavier def. Oskaloosa, 21-11, 21-6
Xavier def. Davenport Central, 21-11, 21-8
Dyersville Beckman def. Oskaloosa, 21-17, 21-18
Johnston def. Davenport Central, 21-16, 21-9
Dyersville Beckman def. Linn-Mar, 12-21, 21-18, 16-14
Xavier def. Johnston, 23-21, 21-17
Linn-Mar def. Oskaloosa, 21-9, 21-13
Dyersville Beckman def. Davenport Central, 22-20, 21-23, 15-10
Johnston def. Dyersville Beckman, 21-13, 21-11
Linn-Mar def. Xavier, 28-26, 21-19
Davenport Central def. Oskaloosa, 16-21, 21-17, 15-12